Explorers

Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Danish-born navigator Vitus Jonassen Bering (1681-1741), a map showing his routes of exploration in the Aleutian islands and in the Bering Sea, and a sailing ship, designed by Russian artist Evgeny Nikolaevich Gundobin (1910-1975), printed by lithogravure, and issued by Russia (USSR) on February 6, 1957 to commemorate the 275th anniversary of Bering's birth, Scott No. 1905, Zagorski No. 1880.

- nethryk

Have to include the US Columbus issue

Here are images of the two intaglio engraved stamps in a set depicting Venetian merchant traveler Marco Polo (1254-1324), the Lion of St. Mark, Venice, a dragon pillar, Beijing, and a map of Polo's route to the East, issued by Italy on July 8, 1954 to commemorate the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo's birth, Scott Nos. 655 & 656, SG Nos. 869 & 870. Note: SG credits the design of these stamps to R. de Catarini, but Italian sources credit Vittorio Grassi & Luigi Gasbarra.

- nethryk

Nethryk: my old Scott catalogue shows the Marco Polo stamps as having been issued in 1954 rather than 1958. If my old eyes have deceived me I will at least have bumped the thread so people who missed them can get to see them. There's a lot of things happening on those stamps.

cynical - You are correct. My typo. Now corrected. Thanks! - nethryk

I have to include that cheeky fellow...my man Sir Ernest Shackleton !

Yes! Shackleton is the man.
Here another one : rescue of Shakleton's expedition in 1916 by ship "Yelcho" of Chilean Navy

Not every explorer is human. Here is Pioneer 10 when it passed Jupiter, it is now in interstellar space. It was last heard from in 2003.

British Polar Explorers 16th Feb. 1972 Great Britain
3p Sir James Clark Ross
5p Sir Martin Frobisher
71/2p Henry Hudson
9p Capt. Robert F.Scott

British Explorers 18th April 1973 (Great Britain)
3p David Lvingstone
3p H.M.Stanley
5p Sir Francis Drake
71/2p Sir Walter Raleigh
9p Charles Sturt

Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) was a French explorer of Breton origin who claimed what is now Canada for France. Here is an image of a stamp honoring Cartier, designed by French poster artist Yves Paquin, combined engraved by Claude Haley and photogravure, and issued by France on April 20, 1984 to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the first of Cartier's voyages to the St Lawrence region, in 1534, Scott No. 1923, Y&T No. 2307.

- nethryk

Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov (1877-1914) was a Russian naval officer, navigator, hydrographer and Arctic explorer who died in the course of an expedition he led in an attempt to reach the North Pole. Many geographic features have been named after Sedov, including two gulfs and a peak on Novaya Zemlya, a glacier and a cape on Franz Josef Land, an island in the Barents Sea, and a cape in the Antarctic; the Russian icebreaker Georgy Sedov was also named in his honor. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Sedov and a depiction of his icebound expedition vessel, the Sv. Foka, designed by Russian poster artist Piotr Emilyevich Bendel (1905-1989), printed by photogravure, and issued by Russia (USSR) on January 25, 1977 to commemorate Sedov's birth centenary, Scott No. 4541, Zagorski No. 4621, plus a photo of Sedov in Russian Naval uniform.

- nethryk

Heinrich Barth (1821-1865) was a German explorer and scholar, and one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa. Barth's careful preparation, his ability to speak and write Arabic, his facility in learning various African languages, and his conscientious character meant that he carefully documented the details of the cultures he visited. Barth was among the first to comprehend the uses of oral history of peoples, and he collected many of them. Here is an image of an airmail stamp featuring a portrait of Heinrich Barth, a map, and a boating scene from Lake Chad, designed by Pierre Béquet, engraved by Pierre Forget, and issued by Chad on February 17, 1969, Scott No. C50. Note: An outstanding biography of Barth has been recently published by W. W. Norton & Company, entitled A Labyrinth of Kingdoms: 10,000 Miles through Islamic Africa, by Steve Kemper.

- nethryk

Here are images of the four stamps in a set honoring Russian explorers, printed by lithography, and issued by Russia on November 22, 1994, Scott Nos. 6235-38.

- nethryk

Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin (1776-1831) explored Kamchatka and the Kurile Islands.


Adam Johann Ritter von Krusenstern (1770-1846) led the first Russian circumnavigation of the globe.


Baron Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangel (1797-1870) explored Siberia and governed the Russian settlements in Alaska.


Count Fyodor Petrovich Litke (1797-1882) explored the Arctic.

For sheer ENDURANCE I would like to include Sir Ernest Shackleton.his Antarctic expeditions penquins excluded would not be my cup of tea !